warnerbrosfandomcom-20200224-history
Birdy and the Beast
Birdy and the Beast is a 1944 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Merrie Melodies and Tweety series. It is the last Merrie Melodie short produced by Leon Schlesinger. It was directed by Bob Clampett, animated by Thomas McKimson, and musical direction by Carl Stalling. This is the second Tweety cartoon directed by Clampett, as Tweety is set upon a fat cat. The title is a play on the traditional fairy tale Beauty and the Beast. Plot synopsis Tweety is sitting in his nest, when a cat watches him. Tweety flies off and the cat chases after him. But, the cat doesn't have the ability to fly, so instead he falls to the ground, while Tweety was lying down on a cloud. The bird then says, "Oh, the poor titty-tat (kitty-cat). He falled down and go... BOOM!!", and jumps down and lands on the cat. The cat attempts to chase Tweety, but Tweety scurries away. Tweety decides to fool the cat by hiding in the bulldog's dish-bowl. The cat comes in and starts looking the bulldog's dish. The bulldog makes his appearance and growls at the cat, but the feline smacks the dog with the bowl. The chase between the dog and cat ensues (with Tweety following the bulldog) until the leash attached to the dog's collar yanked him to the ground, with his face scrunched in. The bulldog says to the audience, "This shouldn't even happen to a dog" and then loosens the collar off his face. Tweety decides to wander and ends up into the cat's mouth, while he is looking for the bird. Tweety decides to set the cat's mouth on fire by holding a match on it. As the cat reactively jumps up from the fire and hits his head on top a open fence railing, Tweety decides to help the cat by using a hose and putting the fire. However, when he fires the hose (by now wearing a firefighter's hat) it turns out that it happens to be connected to a gas (petrol) can, and gasoline goes into the cat's mouth, causing him to explode. Tweety then says, "Oh, the poor putty tat got hot as a firecracker." (With a suspenseful drum roll.) "He blew up and go... boom." The cat manages to survive, but he's still out to get Tweety. When he arrives at the bottom of the tree, he becomes a nest. Tweety attempts to get into it, but a hen, laying her eggs, causes him to get off. When she's finished, she flies off. The cat also arrives and his mouth is full of nothing but eggs. He attempts to catch Tweety once again but fails, then Tweety fakes his screaming and sets a hand grenade with its pin pulled next to him. Thinking it was the bird itself, the cat grabs the grenade. The real Tweety says, "He got it and he can have it." The cat blows up and Tweety then confesses, "You know, I get rid of more putty tats that way!", then drew a line on the tree of how many cats he got rid of. Gallery Lobby Cards Screencaps Trivia *This is the only Tweety to be animated by Tom McKimson. *This is the first Tweety Cartoon to star Tweety, as the previous was more centered around the two cats Babbit and Catstello, than Tweety. *The cat has been identified elsewhere ( http://www.erictb.info/ltmm.html ) as Schnooks, and can be regarded as a prototype Sylvester, albeit with a very different design. *In the dubbed version, the 1938-1941 closing theme plays instead for both EU and US dubbed. *It has been restored on Blu-ray Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2 Disc 2 cartoon # 17. The non-dubbed version has been restored as well as the 1944 ending card. *The Russian dub of the restored print uses the dubbed version's soundtrack, hence the 1938-41 end cue at the end title. *Butch is a prototype for Hector the Bulldog with the same appearance, but a different name. Availability Birdy and the Beast is available uncut and digitally remastered on Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Volume 2 DVD and Blu-Ray set. This version is the uncut non dubbed version with original ending rings restored to DVD. Crew *'Director:' Bob Clampett *'Producer:' Leon Schlesinger *'Writer:' Warren Foster *'Musical Direction:' Carl Stalling *'Orchestrator:' Milt Franklyn (uncredited) *'Film Editor:' Treg Brown (uncredited) *'Sound Effects:' Treg Brown (uncredited) *'Animation:' Thomas McKimson (credited), Robert McKimson, Virgil Ross, Manny Gould, Rod Scribner (all uncredited) See also *Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1940–1949) *Tweety *Bob Clampett External links * * Birdy and the Beast at the Big Cartoon Database Category:1944 films Category:Films Category:Warner Bros. shorts Category:1944 shorts Category:Animated shorts Category:Shorts Category:Looney Tunes Category:Looney Tunes shorts Category:Warner Bros. Cartoons Category:Tweety Bird Category:Tweety Bird shorts Category:Leon Schlesinger Studios Category:Vitaphone short films Category:Merrie Melodies shorts Category:Merrie Melodies Category:Warner Bros. Animation Category:Directed by Bob Clampett Category:1944 Category:Tweety shorts Category:Tweety Category:1940s shorts Category:1940s Category:1940s films Category:Story by Warren Foster Category:Written by Warren Foster Category:Animated by Tom McKimson Category:Animation by Tom McKimson Category:Film Editing by Treg Brown Category:Voice Characterizations by Mel Blanc Category:Voices by Mel Blanc Category:Voiced by Mel Blanc Category:Produced by Leon Schlesinger Category:Leon Schlesinger Productions